26 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ming, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Da- 

 kota, Texas Oklahoma and New Mexico and when 

 the convention shall so convene we further 

 recommend that acthion be taken there by 

 which the body thus formed shall organize 

 itself into national organization that shall pro- 

 vide for a convention or conference later to be 

 held at some eastern point in the United States, in 

 which shall be embraced delegates from every state 

 in the Union. That the date for which this conven- 

 tion shall be called shall be the second day of De- 

 cember, 1915, and remain in session two days, and 

 the place of meeting shall be at the convention hall 

 on the fair grounds. 



Fourth : That the basis of representation in 

 the convention or conference of the delegates shall 

 be: 



a. Three from each irrigation district or 

 project. 



b. The secretary of the interior, and such as- 

 sistants as he may desire to nominate. 



c. The governor of each state, and such other 

 state officers as may desire to be present. 



d. Three delegates at large from each state, to 

 be nominated and appointed by the governor thereof. 



e. One from each chamber of commerce or 

 other commercial organization. 



/. One from each clearing house organization. 



g. Three representatives of each of the rail- 

 way systems operating in the districts embraced 

 above, to be named by the president thereof. 



h. One delegate from each labor council. 



i. One from each engineering society. 



Fifth: That a committee of five be appointed 

 by this organization to have full charge of issuing 

 the call, and make all plans and arrangements for 

 procuring an effective organization, and complete all 

 plans for calling the convention, with all power nec- 

 essary to carry the obligations of this organization 

 to full force and effect. 



Sixth : That we strongly endorse the codifi- 

 cation and enactment of the irrigation laws of the 

 state, as recommended by the commission appointed 

 by the governor. 



MAKE IRRIGATION BONDS PURE GOLD 



From the Rocky Mountain News, Denver. Colo. 



IN a multitude of counsellors there is safety. Some- 

 thing safe and of practical moment to the Rocky 

 Mountain region, of which this city is the radiating 

 center, should come from such a conference or com- 

 mission as has been proposed by Ex-President Case of 

 the National Irrigation Congress. He would have 

 representatives from this congress and the Interna- 

 tional Farm Congress which met in Denver, meet 

 with representatives of the Investment Bankers' 

 Association of America, and men chosen by the 

 federal and state governments, to devise plans of 

 development for Western lands. 



There is work cut out already for such a gather- 

 ing that would have in its membership practical 

 bankers, irrigation engineers and farmers, together 

 with administration men who have ma.de a study of 

 Western land conditions. 



To begin at the beginning, capital is required 

 for development and investments are not going to 

 be made in haphazard fashion. Only of recent date 

 has the farmer to the east of Denver been able to 

 get from banking institutions loans on his lands in 

 process of development. Their status for investment 

 purposes has not been fixed. In a sense it is new 

 industry, this scientific cultivation of land without 

 artificial irrigation. A thorough understanding of 

 this work and its success for years would be to the 

 advantage of capital as well as of farming. The risk 

 is no greater than in long recognized farming terri- 

 tory in Middle Western states. 



In almost all of the states in this region irriga- 

 tion is being hampered, and in many instances is 

 at a standstill, on account of blunders and worse 

 committed and permitted largely by ignorance. 

 Colorado is no exception. Exploiters and promoters 

 have done serious injury to irrigation. And, sad 

 to relate, the states as such have done nothing of 

 consequence to stop this practice. 



Such a commission or conference as has been 

 suggested could be of distinct advantage in drafting 

 legislation that would put irrigation and irrigation 

 securities on a safe and recognized basis. If a state 

 engineer or some responsible officer were required 

 to pass on and give consent to all irrigation under- 

 takings that .appealed to the public for support, there 

 would be a halt on wildcat irrigation schemes in 

 these states. In no time irrigation bonds would be 

 accepted by conservative bankers, and meritorious 

 projects for water conservation and land develop- 

 ment would be under way again. Now it is the prac- 

 tice in Eastern houses to place good and bad in one 

 waste basket. 



The Federal Reclamation Service and representa- 

 tives of the states could come together and with the 

 advice of men from these congresses agree upon a 

 line of demarcation. It is true a great deal of fric- 

 tion that prevailed immediately following the or- 

 ganization of the Service has been removed in recent 

 times, but not all. Legitimate projects in this state 

 and other states to the west are waiting a solution 

 of the question of a state's right to water within its 

 boundaries when that water is claimed by another 

 state or by the federal service for interstate reclama- 

 tion. 



At a gathering representative of the public land 

 states the question of further extension of federal 

 reclamation and the work that would be of widest 

 benefit could be dealt with by federal and state 

 representatives. 



A great deal must be gained by having the best 

 brains in the Western country coming together for 

 mutual benefit and agreement on a broad policy 

 reaching to Congress and dealing with the conserva- 

 tion measures that are to be up for debate and pass- 

 age this winter. 



